Mooring device for boats



July 17, 1956 c. J. BAIRD 2,754,792

MOORING DEVICE FOR BOATS Filed Dec. 27, 1954 United States Patent2,754,792 MOORING DEVICE FOR BOATS Calvin J. Baird, Ottawa, Ontario,Canada Application December 27, 1954, Serial No. 477,696 6 Claims. (Cl.114-230) The invention relates to a mooring device for boats, and isconcerned particularly with automatic means for the mooring of smallboats.

The present invention is concerned with avoiding the ditficulty ofsecuring a boat to a landing structure in a position to permit theembarking or disembarking of passengers. If the prow of the boat isbrought to the landing structure, as is usually done when using a ropeto moor a boat, a considerable amount of further manoeuvring is requiredto get the boat alongside the landing structure for the convenience ofthe passengers. Also, a boat which is moored from the prow is subject toswinging by the action of water currents or wind, and under severeconditions may become damaged.

The present invention provides automatic means for the mooring of boatsand for maintaining the boat sideways to a landing structure. A mooringdevice in accordance with the invention comprises a base plate adaptedto be attached to the side of a boat, for example to the oarlock in thecase of a rowboat, and an arm attached to the base plate extends outwardto form a closed loop of which the forward section is adapted to besprung inwardly of the loop. The landing structure is provided with aver tical bar adapted to fit within the loop attached to the boat andwhen the boat is brought alongside the landing structure the bar acts asa bumper which passes along the side of the boat until it enters theloop of the mooring device.

A boat equipped with a mooring device in accordance with the inventioncan be brought alongside a landing structure and moored automatically toit with the boat sideways to the landing structure so that it isconvenient for passengers to embark or disembark. The boat is preventedfrom swinging away from the landing structure by having the mooringdevice centrally located. The boat may be released from the landingstructure by manually depressing the spring section of the loop therebyreleasing the bar which is attached to the landing structure.

The invention will be further described with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a boat moored alongside a landingstructure by means of a mooring device in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective View of the bumper bar assembly which isattached to a landing structure;

Figure 3 is a plan View of the mooring device shown in Figure 1,attached to a boat; and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a modified form of the mooring devicearranged for attachment to an oarlock of a rowboat.

Referring to Figure 1, a boat is shown moored alongside a landingstructure 11 by means of a mooring device 12, in accordance with theinvention.

The mooring device 12 comprises two parts, one a bumper bar assembly 13attached to the landing structure 11, and the other a spring armassembly 1 attached to the gunwale of the boat 10. Details of the bumperbar assembly 13 are shown in Figure 2, and details of the spring armassembly 14 are shwon in Figure 3.

As shown in Figure 2 the bumper bar assembly 13 comprises a double endedangle bracket 15 and a roller 16. The bracket 15 has two pair of slots17 through which pass bolt and wing nut assemblies 18 for fastening thebumper bar assembly to a landing structure (Figure 1). The roller 16 maybe covered with a resilient material such as rubber so that it can actas a bumper when bringing the boat 19 alongside the landing structure 11(Figure 1) and prevent damage to the finish of the boat. The roller 16may be engaged by the prow of the boat and as the boat proceeds theroller 16 will roll along the gunwale of the boat until it reaches thespring arm assembly 14 and becomes automatically engaged by it.

Details of the spring arm assembly 14 are shown in Figure 3. In thisfigure the gunwale of the boat, such as that of the boat 14 of Figure 1,is designated 20. The spring arm assembly 14 comprises a rigid arm 21attached by the mounting bolts 22 to a base plate 23. The rigid arm 21extends along and away from the abse plate 23 to form a loop which isclosed by a member 24 attached to the arm 21 through a spring loadedhinge 25. The spring loaded hinge 25 is adapted to urge the member 24against the base plate 23 and upon force being applied to permit themember 24- to rotate back toward the inner surface of the arm 21. Thisaction takes place during the mooring of a boat (Figure 1) as the roller16 comes against the outer surface of the member 24 forcing the member24 back toward the inner surface of the arm 21 against the spring actionof the hinge 25, thereby permitting the roller 16 to enter the loopformed by the arm 21. The member 24 is released when the roller 16reaches the back of the loop formed by the arm 21 and the spring in thehinge 25 causes the member 24 to move out to its original positionthereby automatically locking the roller 16 within the loop formed bythe arm 21 and the member 24.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 4 a plate 30 having an arm 31 forminga loop 32 is arranged to be secured to the gunwale 20 of a boat by abolt and wing nut assembly 33. The plate 30 is provided with a doubleflange 34 which fits along the outer edge of the gunwale 20 and is madedouble so that the mooring device can be used on either side of the boatby merely turning over the mooring device. A slot 35 is provided in thelate 30 so that the flange 34 can be brought against the gunwale 2:)before tightening the bolt and wing nut assembly 33. The loop 32 isclosed by a spring arm 36 which may be attached to the arm 31 byriveting or in any other suitable manner. The arm 36 is madesufliciently resilient so that upon its outer surface being contacted bythe roller 16 the arm 36 will flex inwardly of the loop 32 permittingthe roller 16 to enter the loop 32. The spring arm 36 will then snapback to its original position causing the roller 16 to be automaticallylocked within the loop 32.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A mooring device for a boat having oar locks, comprising a rigidbase, means for attaching said base to an oar lock of the boat, an armfixed at one end to said base and extending therefrom to form a hook, anextension of said arm extending back to said base at an angle exteriorto said hook of substantially less than a right angle, said extensionbeing adapted to be spnlng toward said arm.

2. A mooring device as defined in claim 1 in which the arm is rigid andthe extension of said arm is made of spring metal.

3. A mooring device as defined in claim 1 comprising a spring loadedhinge connecting the extension to the arm, said arm being rigid.

3 4. A mooring device as defined in claim 1 comprising References Citedin the file of this patent a landing structure attachment, saidattachment having UNITED STATES PATENTS a double ended angle bracketadapted to be attached in 2 447 45 K 1 A 4 1 4 upright position to theside of a landing structure, a bar 2 er A g8 1 5 extending between theends of said bracket and adapted 5 2,652,694 521 ig 3 3 dt 11h 'd 1 I athe hook formed by the arm me O e 2,697,410 Anschutz 13m 21, 1954 5.mooring device as defined in claim 4 comprising FOREIGN PATENTS areslhent covenng on the 649,913 Great Britain 7, 1951 6. A mooringdevice as defined in claim 5 in which 10 the resilient covering isrotatable thereby forming a roller.

